Is there any end to this kind of thing?

Jennifer Kabbany of The College Fix reports.

Prof: Republicans Use Discreet Racist Tactics To Win White Voters

A new book written by Ian Haney López, a UC Berkeley law professor, claims Republican politicians use a discreet racist language to speak to white voters and gain their support.

“Campaigning for president in 1980, Ronald Reagan told stories of Cadillac-driving ‘welfare queens’ and ‘strapping young bucks’ buying T-bone steaks with food stamps,” states the Amazon description of the book. “In trumpeting these tales of welfare run amok, Reagan never needed to mention race, because he was blowing a dog whistle: sending a message about racial minorities inaudible on one level, but clearly heard on another. In doing so, he tapped into a long political tradition that started with George Wallace and Richard Nixon, and is more relevant than ever in the age of the Tea Party and the first black president.”

The description continues:

In Dog Whistle Politics, Ian Haney López offers a sweeping account of how politicians and plutocrats deploy veiled racial appeals to persuade white voters to support policies that favor the extremely rich yet threaten their own interests. Dog whistle appeals generate middle-class enthusiasm for political candidates who promise to crack down on crime, curb undocumented immigration, and protect the heartland against Islamic infiltration, but ultimately vote to slash taxes for the rich, give corporations regulatory control over industry and financial markets, and aggressively curtail social services. White voters, convinced by powerful interests that minorities are their true enemies, fail to see the connection between the political agendas they support and the surging wealth inequality that takes an increasing toll on their lives. The tactic continues at full force, with the Republican Party using racial provocations to drum up enthusiasm for weakening unions and public pensions, defunding public schools, and opposing health care reform.

In short, to this professor, white voters are simpletons with racist tendencies who are tricked by evil, greedy Republican politicians:

“Crack down on crime?” = A secretly racist phrase that appeals to white voters. (Not just what it says – crack down on crime).

“Curb undocumented immigration?” = A secretly racist phrase that appeals to white voters. (Not honor and obey the laws of this land).